Ripon, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team, ranked 15th on D3hoops.com, improved to 6-0 on the season with a 75-74 overtime win at Ripon College (Wis.) Tuesday night. The Red Hawks drop to 2-2 on the season.

It marks UWL's second 6-0 start in the last three seasons. The Eagles won their first 10 games in 2019-20 and finished 21-6 overall. 

The game was tied, 9-9, after Ripon's (Wis.) Drew Jorgensen hit a three-pointer. UWL led, 13-12, when it went on 7-0 run to lead 20-12 with 11:55 left in the first half on a Tanner Resch layup. Ripon (Wis.) came back to cut the lead to 24-22 with 6:37 remaining on Jaylen Mahone's jumper. The Eagles took a 30-24 lead on Seth Anderson's layup, but the Red Hawks used a 9-0 run to take a 33-30 advantage with :53 left on Jack Brady's three-point basket. Will Fuhrmann's layup with :18 remaining cut the halftime lead to 33-32.  

UWL took a 45-38 lead with 14:54 left, opening the second half on a 13-5 run. Ripon (Wis.) quickly responded with a 10-0 run of its own for a 48-45 lead on Jorgensen's three-pointer with 12:38 remaining. Wyatt Cook's three-pointer for UWL cut the advantage to 52-50 with 11:00 remaining. Ryan Steffes and Brady hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Red Hawks to give Ripon (Wis.) a 58-50 lead with 10:30 left. The Eagles came back to force a 58-58 tied with 7:34 left on Anderson's layup. The game was tied five times in the final 6:08. 

Ethan Anderson's two free throws with 1:54 remaining gave UWL a 66-64 lead, but Steffes tied it with 1:40 remaining with two free throws. After a UWL missed layup, Mahone made a pair of free throws with 1:01 left to give the Red Hawks a 68-66 lead. Cook tied it at 68-68 with two free throws with :48 remaining. Ripon (Wis.) turned the ball over with :32 left, but UWL missed a jumper with :05 remaining to force overtime.

The Eagles never trailed in overtime as Ethan Anderson hit a jumper for 70-68 lead. David DeValk hit one-of-two at the line for the Red Hawks with 3:52 remaining, but Cook's three-point basket gave UWL a 73-69 lead with 3:43 left. Owen Theune's three-pointer cut the lead to 73-72. Ethan Anderson had a pair of free throws with :18 remaining for a three-point lead. Mahone cut the lead back to 75-74 with two free throws with :08 left. Ethan Anderson missed a free throw with :05 left, but Jorgensen missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

UWL shot 44.8% from the field, including 41.2% (seven-of-17) from three-point range, and 72.7% (eight-of-11) at the line. Ethan Anderson led the Eagles with 16 points with Cook finishing with 15 and Seth Anderson 12. Cook had four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. Seth Anderson led the team with nine rebounds. Sean Suchomel finished with seven rebounds and team-high seven assists. 

Ripon (Wis.) shot 46.3% from the field, including 45.8% (11-of-24) from three-point range, and 86.7% (13-of-15) at the line. Mahone led the Red Hawks with 15 points while Steffes and Theuine each finished with 14. DeValk had nine points and game-high 10 rebounds. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, November 27 at Wartburg College (Iowa) at 2 p.m.